WOMEN RULE

History was made on Thursday, when for the first time, the top three spots in the National Calypso Monarch competition went to women. Terri Lyons was crowned National Calypso Monarch, while past monarch Karene Asche placed second and Heather McIntosh-Simon came third.

With her first song, Obeah, Lyons, dressed in a black and red dress with a black hat, sang about people working obeah to keep people down and steal husbands. “Instead of working hard and getting your own bread, they using obeah to get your life instead.”

She also sang about politicians using obeah including the ones who robbed the Treasury but have not “made a jail yet” and one accused of sexual harassment but the accuser does not want to make a statement. Lyons sang about bathing with blue soap but it was not blue enough.

“So ah walk with meh whole father...SuperBlue,” she sang as soca veteran Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons came on-stage to the delight of the small crowd at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah in Port of Spain.

Her second song, Meghan My Dear, started with a skit of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Harry discussing “dark meat.” She then came on stage in a shimmering silver dress with a red skirting and sang about all the things Harry gave up for the dark meat of his wife Meghan.

CHURCH SONGS

“Haters on social media say he will regret, they don’t understand because they never eat a black meat yet,” she sang. She also sang about Harry “contributing to black history” amid the refrain “go Harry.” She walked off the stage with the actor playing Harry to the loudest cheers of the night and the chant: “Go Terri! Go Terri!”

In the first round, Asche took the Grand Stand to “church” with her performance of Voters Prayer. Dressed in a shimmering silver dress, she started the song kneeling before a stained glass altar. Backed up by dancing “nuns” she prayed against all the crime, violence, hypocrisy and division in the country.

“Save us from the blindness, from our eyes remove the scales.” In her second song, Winners Never Quit, she warned against negative people. “They exist just to kill your dream, all your passion and self-esteem.”

She also sang about her own career and said to reach the top some people would stab you in the back. She added, however, that she had no time for hypocrites.

Third placed MacIntosh-Simon, in her song, Claude, lambasted the fashion show held last year at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. As models in bikinis strutted across the stage and men dressed as priests sang “Holy, Holy, Holy” she sang about bare bottoms and bikinis in the show.

“No catwalk across the people altar,” she scolded in song. She sang that her grandmother would be turning in her grave as an Anglican she took flack from other religions. “All them Catholics catch one set of kicks.” Duane O’Connor also sang about the incident in his song, Not in Here, though his models were more fully clothed.

For MacIntosh-Simon’s second song, The Flood, she sang about the changing of the cotton $100 notes to the new polymer notes and said many people had been hoarding the money because bank charges were too high. “Blue notes like rain, blue notes like water.”

LONDON HAS FALLEN

While the ladies were on top, the mighty fell on the night, as defending monarch Ronaldo London saw a dramatic reversal in his 2019 fortunes, as he placed at the bottom of the standings, in 12th position. He sang, Wrong War, in the first round. Dressed in white with large angel wings, he sang about fighting against principalities and powers and not for borders, against neighbours or in elections.

“Politicians fighting for office, while not keeping their promise.”

For his second song, Moving On, he sang about the need to stop the crime and murders and juxtaposed it with people “jamming non-stop” demonstrated by a group of dancers. “Even though the road is rocky we got to move on.”

It was unclear whether he was presenting the jamming as a positive (catharsis) or as a negative (distraction from the crime). After he performed he walked off the stage and looked somewhat dejected.

The guest artiste at the intermission was Scrunter (Irwin Reyes Johnson) who lamented that Calypso Monarch of yesteryear used to fill both North Stand and the Grand Stand. “We can’t fill the Grand Stand? What happening? Come out and hear the culture.”

The attendance was very poor on the night with only a sprinkling of guests.

Other guest artistes were 2020 Junior Calypso Monarch Sharissa Camejo, David Rudder, Blaxx and SuperBlue.